Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a cytokine that plays a role in the inflammatory response and has been reported to be involved in mediating aspects of a number of chronic inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, juvenile idiopathic arthritic, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Elevated levels of GM-CSF have been also observed in the cerebrospinal fluid and sera of patients with Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia (Tarkowski et al. Acta Neurol. Scand 103:166-174, 2001); however a role of GM-CSF in the pathology of dementia has not been identified. This invention is based, in part, on the discovery that a GM-CSF antagonist can be used for the treatment of dementia, or a patient at risk of developing dementia.